Nothing new on local Croatian portals. I don't want to call them again and bug them too soon, in September I will give them another call and let you know the update.
regards,
Fotokemika ...
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Nothing new on local Croatian portals. I don't want to call them again and bug them too soon, in September I will give them another call and let you know the update.
regards,
I got 3 out of the 4 ordered of 50 sheet boxes of glossy grade 4 11x14 K-888, both 25 sheet boxes of 16x20 grade 2 and one of 2 50 sheet boxes of grade 2 11x14, the other is said to be arriving early next month, we'll see...
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Why not? What's to lose? Maybe they'll quit making film and paper if we keep asking?
Well put my head back in the sand!
I called them twice - you can imagine how sad and depressive workers are. Not only company that they worked for decades is going down, but also they will lose jobs, and trust me that in Croatia finding another job is mission impossible. Croatia still need to wait for one year to enter EU - so small chance in going abroad.
They told me that when final decision will be - they will inform public.
They would have to invest in new very expensive machines for the manufacturing of the paper, if it's true that they are, how old? Since the end of WWII? And the machines for film aren't that much younger.
The Emaks and Efke emulsions are still popular, so if they are going to be made in the future the production should be moved to the modern equipment in Germany. It's sad for the workers in Croatia, but there's not much that can be done if not a multi millionaire steps in to invest in Fotokemika. Or the Croatian state/city of Samobor. Fotokemika is indeed a company that puts Croatia, and the city of Samobor, on the map.
In Croatia Fotokemika papers and films are sold either in factory itself or in Zagreb in shop www.praxis.hr
When I called them they told me that they have some emaks paper (most critical for me) on stock in factory but to hurry up if want to buy it. So I would say yes - distribution seems to be stopped (I will double check this when i call them again).
may be time for everyone to buy some film from Ilford and either shoot itup or throw it away, just to keep them busy.
just saying ....
just saying ....
Well, I would hope that wouldn't be necessary. I use FP4 Plus more than anything else from Ilford (besides their paper) but I just put a bunch on ice a couple months ago. Wouldn't normally plan on buying anymore until this time next year but...I guess you never know!
You know, it sounds almost as if Fotokemika is cannibalizing parts from the broken machines to keep the others running. Maybe they ran out of used parts for their paper machines.
As for distribution, it seems that the IR820 and KB 25 are the emulsions that seem to be running out the quickest, and that in 35mm and large format. I would not be at all surprised to learn that distribution hasn't changed a bit. I suspect that there has been a run on some of these emulsions as this news became more widely known. The distribution is likely the same, but that isn't sufficient to keep the stores stocked right now. I know that I disrupted my normal film buying routine to buy extra Efke KB 25 this month. If I have changed my own film buying I would not be at all surprised that others have as well.
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Ilford films just dont have that authentic Efke/Adox vibe. Ilford doesn not offer IR film as ir820Aura.. but a near IR film with outrageous price that is easily murdered by Rollei/Agfa near IR films in resolution and response and the last cost half of what You pay for Ilford.
Ilford films have 2 to 3 times less silver than Efke and are set at higher price range, at least in Europe.
In US might be the other way around.
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But there's one small problem with Efke films... they're not panchromatic, but instead orthopanchromatic. This means I have to look elsewhere for a cheap 5x7 film for contrast masking transparencies. Perhaps Shanghai 100 film?
I just read on the Fotoimpex Forum that Mirko has visited the Fotokemika plant and the situation looks bad for both film and paper. It seems that the problem is lack of money for machinery repair. I enclose a link for you who know where your German dictionary is hidden.
Karl-Gustaf
http://forum.fotoimpex.de/index.php?showtopic=2589
Karl-Gustaf
http://forum.fotoimpex.de/index.php?showtopic=2589
^ copy abd pasted into Google translate:
Seems like they're having a problem with financing a repair, because they cannot sell their product at enough profit to account for things like machine repair.
Man, if I was independently wealthy I'd buy that factory, if only to help the product hang on for a little bit longer.
Man, if I was independently wealthy I'd buy that factory, if only to help the product hang on for a little bit longer.
I like the look of Efke films, but I also like Ilford Pan F. I have recently bought five rolls each of Efke 25 and 50 in small format, but will learn to use Pan F in this format too. I see no reason to buy and freeze more rolls of Efke now, if they maybe will continue to be produced in Germany, and I also want to support Ilford.
I will greatly miss Efke in sheet film and 127, if the emulsions go away. FOMA is still available, but they don't have any low speed films nor 127.
FOMA 100? It's cheap and probably of better quality than Shanghai.
I just got 2 rolls of Efke 50 from Freestyle, and if I like it, I'll be getting 2 bricks. I just don't go through film that fast, and 2 bricks of 50 will last me a long time. I am also going to be getting a brick of the IR820.
I really hope they stay in business and continue to produce film, they are the only producer of IR film.
I really hope they stay in business and continue to produce film, they are the only producer of IR film.
Sales or Profits??
Well, it is hard to say what repairs are necessary. I suspect that the repairs are probably a bit more difficult than repairing a car. Being able to reliably apply a very thin level of coating on a running sheet of plastic is likely a bit more precise than running down the highway. If the machinery is old enough that metal fatigue is beginning to set in, and you no longer have the ability to create the needed pieces, then it becomes a whole lot more challenging, and expensive. Very often companies with extremely old equipment will use parts from other, scrapped, equipment as a source of parts. But, obviously, that will only work for so long until the scrapped machines are totally stripped. And I suspect the film coating machines are not found in every scrap yard.
Finally, take it from a former business owner. "Making millions" in sales is not the same thing as "making millions" in profits. Not even close. :confused:
Well, it is hard to say what repairs are necessary. I suspect that the repairs are probably a bit more difficult than repairing a car. Being able to reliably apply a very thin level of coating on a running sheet of plastic is likely a bit more precise than running down the highway. If the machinery is old enough that metal fatigue is beginning to set in, and you no longer have the ability to create the needed pieces, then it becomes a whole lot more challenging, and expensive. Very often companies with extremely old equipment will use parts from other, scrapped, equipment as a source of parts. But, obviously, that will only work for so long until the scrapped machines are totally stripped. And I suspect the film coating machines are not found in every scrap yard.
Finally, take it from a former business owner. "Making millions" in sales is not the same thing as "making millions" in profits. Not even close. :confused:
Ah yes, making millions!
The support must be purchased in bulk as must the chemicals. All 3 things, paper, film and chemicals are very very expensive and custom for the photo industry. And, for these products you must stock different varieties as for example, for film you may need 6 kinds of film support and for paper, one kind for each surface and tone.
That eats up profit.
PE
The support must be purchased in bulk as must the chemicals. All 3 things, paper, film and chemicals are very very expensive and custom for the photo industry. And, for these products you must stock different varieties as for example, for film you may need 6 kinds of film support and for paper, one kind for each surface and tone.
That eats up profit.
PE
What we don't know is this: does the company have a profitability problem or a cash problem - the two are different. A business can be profitable, but have no cash - and that's a big problem. Many a profitable company has been sunk as a result of poor cash flow.
Whilst we don't know too much about the situation, it does sound like they make profit, but struggle for cash - all that upfront cost of materials PE is referring to. But this is normal in lots of businesses - the best example is manufacture of Whisky. You invest in the plant, labour, ingredients and materials to make the stuff, and then you have to wait 5-10 years before you can sell it as anything respectable. It might sell at a fantastic profit - but only if you have the cash to get to that point in time.
There are ways of improving cashflow - let's hope they find one!
Whilst we don't know too much about the situation, it does sound like they make profit, but struggle for cash - all that upfront cost of materials PE is referring to. But this is normal in lots of businesses - the best example is manufacture of Whisky. You invest in the plant, labour, ingredients and materials to make the stuff, and then you have to wait 5-10 years before you can sell it as anything respectable. It might sell at a fantastic profit - but only if you have the cash to get to that point in time.
There are ways of improving cashflow - let's hope they find one!
You have to remember that many of the ingredients used for emulsion making are perishable. In addition, the end product is perishable too. Unlike whiskey which gets better with age, film goes bad like meat!
PE
PE
ADOX Fotoimpex
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The problem is profitability. Anyones problem at current prices for silver halide products is profitability if you are a manufacturer.
All the films and papers out there are sold at very low prices considering the effort it takes to make them and the costs involved on the raw material side.
This is because the production capacities exceed the demand by far. So the remaining players compete heavily against each other and the consumers benefit from this situation on the cost of the manufacturers.
If efke was to invest in the repair of their gear now (which they could do, they have cash) the question arising is: will they ever get this money back from sales?
Their opinion on this is: No!
So they made a decision.
This is a very sad moment for us. We have started our business 20 years ago with the importing of efke into the western world and we will loose one of our main suppliers. Our sales of their products have gone up every year constantly reaching a record turnover this year.
When I have recovered from this shock in a few days the question will be how these products can possibly be replaced.
But don´t ask me tonight.
Mirko
All the films and papers out there are sold at very low prices considering the effort it takes to make them and the costs involved on the raw material side.
This is because the production capacities exceed the demand by far. So the remaining players compete heavily against each other and the consumers benefit from this situation on the cost of the manufacturers.
If efke was to invest in the repair of their gear now (which they could do, they have cash) the question arising is: will they ever get this money back from sales?
Their opinion on this is: No!
So they made a decision.
This is a very sad moment for us. We have started our business 20 years ago with the importing of efke into the western world and we will loose one of our main suppliers. Our sales of their products have gone up every year constantly reaching a record turnover this year.
When I have recovered from this shock in a few days the question will be how these products can possibly be replaced.
But don´t ask me tonight.
Mirko
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Mirko - I am very sorry to hear. My thoughts to the affected employees.
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